Synthetic marijuana for sale in Frederick County causes concern

Roy Taylor is upset that synthetic marijuana is for sale in his neighborhood.

A store called Dream Maker Bulk Sales is being run out of half of a duplex in the 4700 block of Araby Church Road. The shop is selling the synthetic drug also known under a brand name, Spice, while under renovation.

Dream Maker Bulk Sales is owned by Joe Cohen, who came under fire from county residents and fellow downtown business owners for selling synthetic marijuana in his North Market Street shop, Classic Cigars and British Goodies, before the city outlawed the product.

Taylor hopes the drug, which is sold as incense under a variety of names, will soon-- be made illegal in the state. It contributes to drug problems that already exist, he said.

"I am concerned about the community," he said.

He employs many young people at his Dairy Queen store, and sees the trouble some get into from drug use.

"It's a shame," he said.

Synthetic marijuana is one more potential drug problem and "we have enough," he said. "The problem is we're dealing with something that's not illegal. ... It sure is unethical and dangerous.

"It's not one of those two-sided issues," he said. "Everybody knows it's bad. You don't know what you're getting."

Taylor will host a community meeting today with Frederick County Commissioners' President Blaine Young's help to discuss what can be done.

Another shop just outside city limits in the Evergreen Shopping Center on Buckeystown Pike was selling the product until recently, according to neighboring business owners.

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The business is now closed, and Bob Roberson, manager of the Southern States store in the strip mall, said he hopes it doesn't reopen. The shop drew a shady crowd, he said.

"We saw some real characters," Roberson said. "One evening when I left here about 5:30, there was a guy half sleeping on the steps down there, doing his Spice and all that stuff. It was an uneasy feeling, especially when you're leaving here at night. It was just a bad situation, but as long as it's legal, there isn't really a whole lot we can do about it."

Bernie Parody, owner of Save Smart, said people frequently came in his discount grocery store and asked for the product. He fears robberies and violence if the store reopens, he said.

"It's not the type of people we want to have here," Parody said. "I've sent letters to the landlord, and my first letter had a statement in it that 'I'm going to make a prediction that this is going to become a major issue.'"

Making it illegal

City of Frederick officials talked about comprehensive synthetic marijuana laws during a Friday morning meeting with state lawmakers. The city banned sales of the products, but more action is needed, Alderwoman Kelly Russell said.

"All this does is push the problem out of our limits," she told the Maryland senators and delegates who represent Frederick County.

Russell asked the delegation to look at laws that would cover the whole state.

Sen. Ron Young and Delegates Galen Clagett and Patrick Hogan said they are drafting legislation that would ban synthetic marijuana sales throughout Maryland.

The topic resurfaced later at a meeting between the legislators and county commissioners, who hope the Maryland General Assembly will give them authority to enact a ban.

With its commission form of government, the county needs the state's blessing to crack down on the synthetic drugs. As a charter government, the city was able to move forward without waiting for the state legislative session, which begins Jan. 9.

"Had this been charter, you could've done this unilaterally," Sen. David Brinkley told commissioners.

"Senator Young specifically praised our work in crafting our law and will be using our ordinance as a model to work from," Russell wrote in an email. "Until the state acts, the rest of Frederick County (with the exception of those municipalities that enact their own laws) cannot stop the sale of these dangerous drugs."

Frederick County voters recently approved a transition from commission to charter government, but the switch will not happen for another two years.
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